Horror Pictures

[the_GUNN_man]

I am so sick of going to peoples houses to give estimates and them say that they were thinking of doing it themselves but wanted to see how much I would charge. They think by saying that you will lower your price. I don't. I was wondering if anyone had any horror pics of pw'ing done by the "do it yourself'ers". I would like to start a scrap book of pics done by home owners doing it themselves. We need to start letting these people see for themselves what happens when you don't use the right chemical and too much pressure. I guess the main thing I am looking for is decks. That seems to be the number one area people complain about being too high. I was offering to to clean and seal a deck of a $500,000+ home and they said $500 was too much. They had it done 3 years ago and there was stain slopped all over the siding. I guess I could knock $200 off the price and go in there and throw some bleach around and then just use a pump up and throw the sealer down. Don't bother protecting anything and let the sealer go where it may. They act like that is what they want. After they go to the store rent the pw bring it home, realize they need it for more them one day, then use 3000 psi to clean their deck, use the wrong kind of cleaner, leave lap marks, don't neutralize it, spend 2 days trying to do it, bring the pw back to the store, go buy some junky Thompson's sealer, probably put that on after letting the deck dry overnight, slopping it on the siding, and not protecting anything and realizing you just killed everything around the deck. Plus the 30 hours they spent on it themselves. If they only knew. So, anyway. I would appreciate anyone sharing some pics of messed up decks or concrete(or anything for that matter) done by the D.I.Y 'ers. I will post this on a couple boards and see what I get.

 

[Michael]

There is a thread posted on 'Dave's' bbs where a home owner etched not only the concrete around their pool but damaged their window screens doing it themselves and 'saving' money.

 

[paul-uk]

steve

i think this is a good idea aswell.these pics would also look good on a web site ...how to damage your investment .

i hope people can post a few if they have time.

 

[mellow44]

When people tell me that there thanking about doing it there selfs, i tell then how to do it , were to rent a p/w hot or cold , the price for rental , the chemical or sealer they will need and prices and how much !

Most of the time I'll get the job!

Mel

 

[Justin]

It's been my experience that the customer that calls actually wants us to wash that deck. They are on the defense right off the bat and want you to think they are just price shopping.... When all they really want you to do is to sell them that deck job.

Mel has a great way of dealing with it. Help the customer and he in turn will help you. If he wants to wash the deck himself, then take a moment to help him and educate him so he can do just that. You'll find, like Mel has found that the success you'll find in landing jobs is directly related to how many people you help.

Educate the customer and if they want to wash and stain that deck themselves, show them how. Do what Mel does and you'll get the job.

No matter how good of a job you can do or how good you can tell your customers you can do... the bottom line of closing the deal is giving the customer that warm fuzzy feeling. You see, if they don't like and trust you, then they wont buy anything from you regardless of how good you can do. Any objection the customer has is not because they don't want you to do the deck, it's because they want to feel comfortable with you. If you first don't establish a level of comfort, then you're not going to get that job anyway and it really doesn't matter if you are the best around.

Steve, your potential customer is important. Your potential customer is just like you in a way that he or she has something they want done and they are willing to pay for it. They called you to come over and give a bid on that deck. Going over and simply giving a bid on the deck won't matter at all. Most customers will pay more for someone they feel comfortable with, not someone that tells them how bad they will do if they do it themselves.

The customer calls you Steve and this is your opportunity to sell your personal services to them, not the deck job. You are what you are selling, the deck or the house wash is secondary. In the end, the customer normally choose the vendor that makes them feel the most comfortable, not the one with the best price.

Good luck.

 

[Steven Rowlett]

I am in agreement with Justin. If the cutomer feels comfortable with you the price in not that relivant. This works both ways. If I don't have a good feeling about the customer I will not do the job for any amount of money because I know there will be a problem with them. I know tey will find some reason to beat me out of what they owe me.

 

[CompletelyClean]

Ditto everything Justin ad Steve R. said.

I have been selling intangible products (services) for several years. People do business with people they like and trust. Like Justin said, you could be the BEST in your area...THEY don't know that! They won't know how good you are until AFTER your service is provided. Therefore, you need to get them to buy "YOU".

Think back to when you, personally, have had a service person come to your house to estimate a repair of a window, roof, siding, whatever. If I didn't like that person or get the warm and fuzzies from them, I didn't hire them. I will pay extra to the person that I liked, if they sounded like they knew what they were talking about, of course.

I HIGHLY recommend listening to Anthony Robbins motivational tapes. He talks a lot about physiology. Learn how to read a person's body language and they way the conduct themselves. This will help you determine the type of approach to take with them. I always remain postive and energetic when tlakin to potential customers, but if the are somber or quiet, I tone my energy down a bit, as well. They need to feel a "connection" with you.

I never approach two customers the same way, because they may be completely different personality types. What worked for one, may not for the other. I let them lead the conversation an I LISTEN before I start yakking about PW'ing. Asking a non-PW'ing question about something they have on their property often helps "break the ice" and develops acomfort level. COmment on a beautiful garden or lawn ornament before you come out with, "well I measured the deck and it's...and it'll cost you...". MAKE them LIKE you first.

Sorry for the long post, but this is MY forte, and I could go on and on about it, as I did here

Now if I could just get those chemicals and PW'ing techniques down to a science...!